NIGERIA AT 62: DEPENDENCE OR INDEPENDENCE

Oke Racheal Adeola Department of Political Science NIGERIA AT 62: DEPENDENCE OR INDEPENDENCE On the 1st of October, 2022, Nigeria celebrated 62 years of gaining Independence from the British colonial masters, but the question remains, is Nigeria really independent? considering her present political, economic and social situations. Since Nigeria became a formally independent federation on 1st of October, 1960, I believe Nigeria only went from one colonialism to another. From British colonial leadership to Neo colonization. Neo colonialism according to Oxford dictionary means the use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former dependencies. Like I will always say, your power lies in your economic abilities so it is for Nigeria. The strength of this county lies in its economic power. The manufacturing sector of economy is the main backbone of a country’s development. It contributes greatly to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The manufacturing sector of Nigeria is ‘dead’ that we import literally almost everything we use from household level to the National level. This is sardonic for a country blessed with so many natural resources and even good population contain larger percentage of working and active population. Lack of economic power has led Nigeria into the hand of Neo colonialism hereby making us dependent and not independent. Poverty rate in a county also determines if the county is truly independent because an independent country must be able to cater for its citizens to a very large extent. Records show that at independence in 1960, the poverty rate stood at 15 per cent, but according to the official figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the incidence of poverty in Nigeria between 1980 and 2010 rose from 27.2 percent to 69.0 percent. The above statistics has shown that Nigeria has failed woefully as an independent state. Poverty rate keep increasing and on its way to an irredeemable level. The standards of education provided in a county also presupposes if a country can be referred to as dependent or independent. Nigeria’s educational system suffers lots of deficiencies which includes poor funding thus leading to lack of infrastructures, inadequate classrooms and insufficient teaching aids, lack of competent teachers, unconducive learning environments amongst other problems. These problems have rendered the educational sector of Nigeria less effective hereby cause high rate of illiteracy in the country which poses danger in the development of the country. If a county said to be independent for 62 years experiences these shortcomings, such country can be said to be inarguably dependent and not independent.